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Rothwell won the BKFC heavyweight title by brutally stopping Mick Terrill in January at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo CenterCredit: BKFCBen Rothwell vs Andrei Arlovski headlines BKFC KnuckleMania 6<\/p>\n
Rothwell will defend his BKFC heavyweight title in the main event against former UFC champion Arlovski.<\/p>\n
Arlovski has already defeated his fellow ex-UFC heavyweight twice in MMA, but now has the chance to compete for bare-knuckle boxing gold at the promotion part-owned by Conor McGregor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rothwell fought 17 times in the UFC between 2009 and 2021, the 44-year-old winning the BKFC heavyweight title in January by scoring a swift knockout win over Briton Mick Terrill<\/a>.<\/p>\n ‘Big’ is 4-0 in the sport, having built up a remarkable MMA record of 37-14 since he first entered the sport as a professional in January 2001.<\/p>\n READ MORE ON BKFC<\/p>\n Arlovski<\/a>, meanwhile, was the UFC heavyweight champion in 2005, and his fight against Rothwell will be his second with bare fists.<\/p>\n The 46-year-old faced off with Rothwell in the BKFC ring after a successful debut in June, and enters the bout having knocked out reality TV star Kelechi Dyke<\/a> under the Misfits Boxing banner in his last fight.<\/p>\n Also at KnuckleMania 6, former UFC middleweight title challenger Romero faces former BKFC light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Lorenzo Hunt.<\/p>\n Romero has fought Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold during his UFC career.<\/p>\n He takes on Hunt for his second bare-knuckle bout in a catchweight fight at 210lbs.<\/p>\n Middlesbrough native Ben Bonner<\/a> is set to make his return on the Philadelphia card to fight Tony Soto, too.<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n Rothwell and Arlovski fought for the second time at UFC San Antonio in July 2019Credit: Getty 7<\/p>\n Arlovski won the bout via unanimous decision after three roundsCredit: Getty 7<\/p>\n The former UFC champion also defeated Rothwell in 2008 under the Affliction banner, stopping the American in the third roundCredit: Getty 7<\/p>\n The heavyweights went to war in both bouts, and fans can expect more of the same at KnuckleMania 6Credit: Getty<\/p>\n Bonner shockingly defeated Soto in June via unanimous decision to win the promotion’s lightweight title, but lost a narrow split decision to Franco Tengalia in his subsequent bout.<\/p>\n Bonner vs Tengalia was one of two semi-finals as part of BKFC’s lightweight title tournament, with Luis Palomino set to fight Tengalia in the final in 2026.<\/p>\n Conor McGregor brought more eyes to the sport<\/p>\n Speaking to talkSPORT.com in June, Bonner discussed the impact McGregor has made since he joined forces with BKFC<\/a> last year. <\/p>\n “Conor is a phenomenal athlete: a world champion, who was at the top of his sport when he was competing,” Bonner said.<\/p>\n “When he came into the company, it brought eyes to the sport and brought more money.<\/p>\n “Him, like a lot of other people, respects what I do… Conor knows a superstar when he sees one, and I’m one.”<\/p>\n![\"SAN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/andrei-arlovski-belarus-ben-rothwell-1046393393.jpg\")
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